A central vacuum system uses a network of pipes connected to a powerful vacuum generator and filter located in a central location of a house for example. The piping system is connected to a number of vacuum inlets installed at various locations throughout the house. In use, a long vacuum hose is connected to one of these vacuum inlets for cleaning the rooms nearest to this inlet. Common vacuum hoses used with these central vacuum systems have 25 to 40 feet in length or more, and are difficult to stow away in a neat arrangement.
Various installations have been developed in the past for storing a vacuum hose. In its simplest and most common form of storage, the hose is coiled on a horseshoe-like wire-frame rack mounted out of sight in a closet or in a utility room. The more elaborate storage system known comprises a hose reel mounted inside the wall or in an equipment room of a house for example. Generally, the reel is electrically or spring driven, and the core of the reel has a swivel joint connected to a vacuum inlet pipe. Examples of the reel-type storage systems for central vacuum hoses are disclosed in the following Canadian Patent Application and US Patent: CA 2,093,715 published on Oct. 9, 1994 by G. Workhoven et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,842 issued on Jun. 18, 1996 to L. G. Christensen.
Other vacuum hose storage systems of the prior art comprise a hose storage compartment wherein the hose is disorderly driven in or pulled out the compartment by a hose drive mechanism. The hose drive mechanism comprises a pair of spaced-apart indented rollers acting against the hose on opposite sides of the hose. Examples of these systems are illustrated in the following Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,944 issued on Oct. 14, 1975 to H. Hukaba et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,581 issued on Apr. 21, 1998 to C. W. Harrelson II.
In a further example of the vacuum hose storage systems of the prior art, the hose is pushed in a pipe extending between the floorjoists or across the rafters of a building. This particular installation is described in the following Patent:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,978 issued on Jul. 11, 1995 to R. Kohler.
Although the vacuum hose storage systems of the prior art deserve undeniable merits, there is no known prior art installation that combines the advantages of having a compact arrangement, a simple drive system and the ability to stow a vacuum hose without potentially stretching, collapsing, twisting or kinking it. As such, it is believed that there continues to be a need for a hose storage and dispenser apparatus which is easily mountable in an existing building having a central vacuum system, which does not require an external source of power or the winding of a spring, and which does not apply any stress to the hose which may eventually deteriorate the hose.